Process of treating and refining crude iron



F. EURGERS PROCESS OF TREATING AND REFINING CRUDE IRON March 23 21926, 7 1,578,009

Filed Miran 12, 1925 WITNESS QINVENTO'R' Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,578,009 PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ BUBGERS, or GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF TREATING AN D REFINING CRUDE IRON.

Application filed March 12, 1925. Serial No. 14,969.

, tion.

The present invention relates to certain improvements upon the process for treating and refining crude iron as disclosed in my prior application, Serial No. 723,524.

In my prior application there is described a process of refining crude iron which in volves the introduction into a furnace charged with coke or other combu-stibles of a liquid supply of crude iron. The liquid pig iron was introduced thru the side of. the

furnace by an inlet trough rovided with a number of branches at its ischarge end by which the iron was immediately distributed over the entire furnace area or b a trough surrounding the furnace wall an discharging the iron into the furnace thru radial inlets, the molten iron being thereb splashed so to speak, over the Whole bed 0 incandescent coke and trickling down thru the fuel bed underwent the well known refining process common to the remelting of pig iron in the making of ordinary foundry iron. It has been found that some objectionable results follow from this practice of delivering the iron onto the fuel bed. I

In my present invention the molten pig iron is introduced by suitable means to the center of the incandescent fuel bed and deseends from this center delivery point in a diverging cone-like stream until it is distributed uniformly thru the furnace.

The invention further relates to certain furnace constructions for facilitating the.

type and has applied to it at a suitable elevation a sliding trou h 2 whereby the molten contents of a ladle '3 may be introduced into the middle of'the furnace. The trou h may be made removable as shown by the dotted-lines. The molten crude iron will thus be directed to the very center of the incandescent fuel and will only gradually distribute itself thru the fuel bed descend ing in the form of a cone until it becomes uniformly and symmetrically distributed. The trough may be provided with an inclined chute 4 for supplying the fuel which introduced at the mouth of the chute will descend into the furnace only so fast as it is consumed therein, thus maintaining the incandescent depth of the fuel constant.

In Figure 2 a modification is shown wherein. the upper part of the furnace is built. on an angle and the liquid iron introduced at a point on the upper side of the inclined portion at an elevation whichiwill cause the iron in descending in a cone like stream to distribute itself gradually and uniformly thru the fuel bed. The point at which the fuel is introduced should bear such a relation to the point at which the molten pig iron enters the furnace, that the coke while being preheated in this intermediate space will, however, not be raised to the combustion point as obviously any fuel burning above the point of introduction of the metal will have no useful effect.

Other shapes of furnace may be employed I providing the principles involved in the invention are adhered to namely, the introduction of the fluid iron at a point .where it will descend in a diverging cone-like stream until it is distributed uniformly thru the incandescent fuel bed.

I claim: a 1. A'process for refining crude iron comprising, introducing fuel into a furnace through a chute, preheating the fuel by the gases arising from the burning fuel,"melting the crude iron in a separate furnace conveying the molten metal to the refining furnace and introducing the molten iron at a point near the vertical axis of said furnace and below the upper limit of incandescence. 2. A furnace for treating-crude iron comprising in combination, furnace walls for enclosing an incandescent body of fuel, on inclined chute for conveying the fuel into the furnace from the side, the fuel in the chute descending only as the fuel in the furnace ceases to support it and means for introducing molten crude iron at the central axis of the furnace and at a point where the fuel becomes incandescent.

\FRANZ BURGER$.

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